Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

452 results found

Gotha

(Encyclopedia)Gotha gōˈtä [key], city, Thuringia, central Germany. It is a rail junction, and its manufa...

Speer, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Speer, Albert älˈbĕrt shpār [key], 1905–81, German architect and National Socialist (Nazi) leader. A member of the Nazi party from 1931, he became its official architect after Hitler came to pow...

Spener, Philipp Jakob

(Encyclopedia)Spener, Philipp Jakob fēˈlĭp yäˈkôp shpāˈnər [key], 1635–1705, German theologian, founder of Pietism. He was pastor of the Lutheran church at Frankfurt in 1670 when, to counteract the barre...

Perrault, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Perrault, Claude pĕrōˈ [key], 1613–88, French architect, scientist, and physician. One of the most eminent French scholars of his time, he advanced the study of anatomy and made other scientific...

Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da

(Encyclopedia)Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da äˌmārēˈjē [key], 1571–1610, Italian painter. His surname, Caravaggio, came from his birthplace. After an apprenticeship in Milan, he arrived (1592) in Rome w...

André, Brother

(Encyclopedia)André, Brother äNdrāˈ, änˈ– [key], 1845–1937, Canadian Roman Catholic mystic, b. St. Grégoire d'Iberville, Que. His secular name was Alfred Bissette, Bassette, or Bessette. For about 40 yea...

Runyon, Damon

(Encyclopedia)Runyon, Damon (Alfred Damon Runyon), 1884–1946, American short story writer and journalist, b. Manhattan, Kans. He is best known for his humorous stories—written in a picturesque, slangy journalis...

Heflin, James Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Heflin, James Thomas, 1869–1951, U.S. politician, b. Randolph co., Ala. He was admitted (1893) to the bar and in 1920 entered the U.S. Senate where he was known at first as “Cotton Tom” because ...

Reed, James Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Reed, James Alexander, 1861–1944, American political leader, b. near Mansfield, Ohio. He moved to Iowa and was admitted (1885) to the bar, practicing there and later in Missouri. He was (1898–1900...

Rule, Britannia

(Encyclopedia)Rule, Britannia, English patriotic song. The music was composed by Thomas Augustine Arne for his masque Alfred, first performed August 1, 1740, in commemoration of the accession of George I. The words...